Motorized vehicles are commonly used not only to transport people, but also to lift and carry loads. Many vehicles have within them a mechanism for lifting or carrying objects. For example, some trucks carry a fork lift from the rear bed of the truck. The rear bed of the truck is configured to receive the forks of a fork lift, enabling the truck to transport the fork lift. Also, some tractors carry a side-mounted bush hog consisting of an extendable mechanized arm with a rotating mower blade at the end of the arm. The bush hog has a frame which mounts onto the tractor. This allows the tractor to transport the bush hog and use it to cut vegetation adjacent to a roadway.
There is a danger inherent in the use of lifting or carrying devices on motorized vehicles. That danger occurs when the moment applied to the vehicle from the device being lifted or carried is increased, causing the vehicle to tilt or even fall over. If the moment, or angular force, applied to a truck or tractor by the operation of the lifting or carrying device increases beyond the gravitational force created by the weight of the truck or tractor itself, tilting will occur. In this instance, the weight of the vehicle will not be sufficient to prevent tilting.
Moment is a product of several factors. One factor is the amount of force applied to the lifting or carrying arm. Another variable is the angle at which force is applied to the moment arm. A third factor is the radius away from the object at which the force is applied. A sufficient increase in either the force applied to an object or the distance from an object at which the force occurs will increase the moment and cause rotation in the body securing the lifting device.
In the context of motorized vehicles with a lifting or carrying device, moment will increase when the downward force on the device increases. This occurs when the lifting device attempts to lift a heavier load. Moment will also increase when either the length or the radius of the moment arm increases.
It is critical that a motorized vehicle with a lifting device stay balanced. If such a vehicle becomes too far out of balance, it could tilt over causing damage to the vehicle and, possibly, personal injury. For example, a dump truck which becomes out of balance while dumping a load of dirt into a hole could tilt backwards, causing the truck and the driver to flip into the hole.
In order to avoid tilting, motorized vehicles have employed one of two types of balancing devices. The first type involves a counter-weight attached to the vehicle opposite the lifting device. For example, a weight may be attached to a fulcrum or to the hub of a wheel opposite the lifting mechanism. The utility of a counter-weight is that it increases the gravitational force on the vehicle opposite the lifting mechanism so as to counter-act the angular force applied by the load during lifting. However, the added weight also means that the truck or tractor must be engineered to move a considerably heavier load. This raises the cost of the vehicle and reduces fuel economy. It also makes handling the vehicle difficult in the event of a flat tire or in the event towing is necessary.
The second type of balancing device employs legs extendable from the side of the vehicle in the direction of the lifting mechanism. The legs are usually connected to pads which rests on the ground. The legs provide support to the vehicle to avoid tilting. However, this type of balancing mechanism only has utility when the vehicle is stationary.
The prior art fails to teach a device which can provide additional vertical support for a side mounted lifting or carrying mechanism while the vehicle is moving. Such a device counter-acts the downward force applied at the end of the moment arm without adding additional weight to the vehicle itself. If the vehicle begins to tilt in the direction of the load being lifted, the frame upon which the lifting or carrying device is mounted is adjustably stiffened, thereby accomplishing a balancing of weight. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for counter-acting the gravitational force applied to a lifting or carry device attached to a motorized vehicle.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a device by which the frame of a lifting device secured to a motorized vehicle may be stiffened relative to the vehicle itself, thereby preventing tilting during operation.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a device which will balance a vehicle having a lifting or carrying device while the vehicle is moving.
It is another object of the present invention to secure an adjustably inflatable air bag to both the frame of a lifting or carrying device on a motorized vehicle and an axle of that vehicle in such a manner that inflation of the bag counter-acts the gravitational force applied to the moment arm when the lifting or carrying device is employed.
It is a further object of this invention to place an inflatable/deflatable air bag between the right, front axle of a tractor and a mounting plate attached to the frame of a side-mounted bush hog in such a manner that the air bag may be inflated when the tractor begins to tilt towards the side where the bush hog is mounted, and may be deflated should the tractor begin to tilt towards the opposite side, thereby allowing the tractor to be balanced during operation of the bush hog.